Archiving DVDs...

AliP · 29 Jan 2009 at 16:09

Hello one and all,

I am currently considering the costs and implications of moving my and my girlfriend's DVD collection into storage on hard drives. I hope to eventually build a media server, complete with raid array, which will host our music, films and photos. I'd like to be able to store the DVDs in such a format so that they can be streamed across a network on a media extender (either a 360 or a PS3), and are easily viewable. This will eventually mean the boxes and original discs can be safely stored, and the whole collection will be available on demand.

The cost of storage is not really a worry, but I'm keen to preserve and maintain this collection into the future, so I don't want to base any encoding or compression on some esoteric technology that isn't commonly supported.

Quality however, is an issue, and I want to preserve everything possible.

My question is therefore, what format should I store the DVDs in? Is there a way of storing the video in a lossless format, similar to flac for audio? What software is best for performing the rip? How much quality am I likely to lose in the process?

Has anyone been through this process and is willing to share war stories?

Thanks !

AliP · 29 Jan 2009 at 16:37

All makes sense, and I understand I can do a straight copy, but was really wondering if there is a way of storing it so I can stream to a ps3 or 360. Building an HTPC is a whole other project that I don't really have the pockets for yet

AliP · 29 Jan 2009 at 16:46

I probably do have parts lying around, I'll see what I can do. Server comes first though I think. I'm keen on RAID for redundancy purposes, I've lost data through hard-drives randomly dying one too many times for my liking.

I really don't feel there's a valid excuse to lose data in 2009.

AliP · 29 Jan 2009 at 16:53

I know, but there is other data, (downloaded music / personal photos / software etc) which might not necessarily have an original or master. I understand what you're saying, and you might be right when it comes down to the cost tradeoff - I just figure that storage is so cheap these days, it's not really such a huge jump.

Plus, you know, it's a tech toy to play with

AliP · 29 Jan 2009 at 16:57

Indeed

I actually like the look of the new Windows Home Server stuff, although worry as it's headless.

AliP · 30 Jan 2009 at 11:23

Ooo, I wasn't really hoping to start an argument over RAID. I should probably clarify - I was never intending to use RAID as my only, or even primary backup solution, and totally understand the potential risk of the entire array being hosed through fire/theft etc. I have a couple of external terabyte hard-drives which I use for backup purposes currently, both of which live away from my main machine, one of which is offsite.

@cram - I totally accept and understand what you're saying and agree a DVD collection doesn't require high availability. Especially with HD Content, you're probably right that the cost trade-off isn't worth it. I guess I was just trying to minimize the frustration of a hard-drive going down. When I really think about it though, I guess this isn't actually all that common an occurrence and probably the time spent rebuilding is okay. Maybe those saved pennies should go on a HTPC instead after all.

Is home server a worthwhile investment? I guess I need to do some research, is that performing any sort of mirroring under the hood?

Also, so many suggestions for DVD ripping software - are they all pretty much comparable? I've yet to achieve a real consensus on a preferred format, which is interesting. I think the x264 sounds good though.